Steve Bannon's Sovereignist Academy to Open in Medieval Italian Charterhouse

The Certosa di Trisulti, a 13th-century charterhouse in Collepardo, Italy, designated a national monument in 1873 and housing a library of over 25,000 volumes, was put out to tender and awarded in 2018 by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage (Mibac) to the Dignitatis Humanae Institute. Founded by Benjamin Harnwell, a close associate of Steve Bannon, the institute will lease the site for 19 years at an annual cost of €100,000. Bannon plans to establish a 'sovereignist academy' there—a school to train new populist leaders akin to Viktor Orbán and Jair Bolsonaro. The decision has sparked a cultural debate about the function of cultural heritage as a common good. Dario Nepoti, founder of the Scuola Politica Gibel in Palermo—a school with opposing aims—offers his opinion on Artribune. Nepoti argues that the controversy highlights two critical issues: political education and the architecture of political spaces. He references Buckminster Fuller's warnings about an overstimulated society and Byung-Chul Han's concept of 'shitstorms' to underscore the need for contemporary spaces that can equip politicians to navigate fake news and rapid social change. Nepoti asserts that Italy will not become Europe's populist laboratory but will instead find solutions and 'put roots back on wings.'